Civil
Wartime Letters

These letters have been typed
out letter for letter and word for word so that they can be read
easier.

The original letters are in
very rough condition and are difficult to read, some are torn and
missing parts, others are stuck together and are impossible to
seperate. The letters on this page are the only best ones of the
group and I want to thank David and Mary Ellen Barth for typing them
out for preservation and sharing them with me so that I could
share them with you. I realize that the integrity of these
letters has been compromised to a degree, but we do have the
originals and know for a fact that they are exact copies. Our ancestors suffered through some very hard times during this period of our American history. These letters will give you a sense of the seriousness of the hardships our ancestors endured during this terrible time! I hope that you get a true understanding from them, as I have. The first set of letters are in gif format, the rest are provided by TRAVIS HARDIN and are also available at TRAVIS HARDIN'S GENEALOGY AND DOWN HOME PAGE!

The following letters and links are from and provided by TRAVIS HARDIN'S GENEALOGY AND DOWN HOME PAGE! I want to thank Travis for letting me add them to my collection. Many of these are duplicates of the previous letters, but I had already scanned them and posted them here when I came across Travis' collection and aquired his permission to place his pages here also. I just wanted to provide them ALL to you for your reading pleasure. I hope you find them as interesting as I do, ENJOY!!!

&QUOT; MEN OF THE HILLS... DO NOT CAST YOUR LOT
WITH THE REBELS.
The secessionists, the flatlanders, the planters, the so-called gentlemen whose
fine daughters do not acknowledge your existence would have you fight their RICH
MAN'S WAR. If you join their rebel army it will be a POOR MAN'S FIGHT. &QUOT; - from a U.S.
recruiting poster seen in Alabama.

"In December, the 31st
accompanied Stevenson's Division to Vicksburg. In May 1863 it helped defend Port Gibson,
Mississippi, where the regiment suffered severely. It fought at Baker's Creek, and the loss was
heavy. As part of the Vicksburg garrison, the regiment suffered through the siege, and after
losing a number killed and wounded, it was surrendered with the fortress."

Milton
Hardin survived Fort Gibson and died at Vicksburg. He was "snatched away" as were over
nineteen thousand other Confederate and Union soldiers there.